Latest Blood Tests Can Detect Pancreas Cancer Early

Illustration of blood tests for the detection of pancreatic cancer (Pexels/Pranidchakan Boonrom)

JAKARTA - The latest blood test was successfully created which can diagnose pancreatic cancer early. This test certainly increases the hope of survival for people suffering from this disease.

It is known, the pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the most common type of pancreatic cancer, which accounts for the fourth most deaths of all cancers globally.

This cancer prognosis is very gloomy, with only 13 percent of people surviving for 5 years or more after the diagnosis, quoted from Forbes, on Monday, February 24, 2025.

In the United States, nearly 40 thousand deaths from pancreatic cancer occur every year. One of the reasons this can happen is because the diagnosis of cancer is done after entering a difficult stage to cure.

Therefore, researchers are trying to create a blood test that makes it easier to screen the pancreas, called the 'PAC-MANN'. This test detects enzyme activity called protease in the blood of people with pancreatic cancer.

Peneilti validated tests on more than 350 blood samples from people with and without pancreatic cancer, which showed a successful rate of 98 percent. This blood test can distinguish the blood of people suffering from pancreatic cancer and those who do not.

"The problem with pancreatic cancer is that we are often late in detecting it," said Jared Fischer, PhD, lead author of the blood test research.

"Our goal with PAC-MANN is to provide a tool doctor who can detect diseases much earlier, when more treatment options are available and there is a better chance of survival," he added.

Jared Fischer also shared about the advantages of the blood test to detect pancreatic cancer. Not only can it detect, the test can also be an appropriate picture of therapy and treatment in patients.

This test is not only about detection, it can also help to measure how well treatment works and guide therapeutic options. If it can track the patient's response to therapy in real time, it can make better treatment decisions and improve results," he explained.